In the armor penetrating projectile art a variety of different problems have arisen, all of which occur because the armor penetrating projectile must have a front end formed of high strength steel or the like, sufficiently hard to penetrate armor, which makes it extremely difficult to mount additional components thereon. In many other applications a penetrator is designed to pass through thick and/or relatively hard defenses so that a similar problem, i.e. mounting additional components thereon, is prevalant. Further, the preferred configuration of the penetrator front end is an ogive with a well-known mass distribution, i.e. the higher the mass at the nose the more effective the penetrator, while ideal ballistic characteristics may require a somewhat different shape and mass distribution. Also, in many applications a shaped charge is carried within the projectile and after the front end has penetrated a target it is desirable for the front end to be eliminated so that the shape charge can be detonated within the target.